Protein corona formation on silver nanoparticles under different conditions

Abstract

The surfaces of nanoparticles become covered by biomolecules in biological fluids. This protein ‘corona’ modifies materials’ characteristics and biological activity. The composition of the protein corona is dynamic, abundant biomolecules that bind first are subsequently replaced by less abundant but more tightly bound ones. Here, we explore the formation of the silver nanoparticle protein corona on exposure to cell culture media containing 10 % fetal bovine serum supplemented Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium. Sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analysis were used to monitor how different parameters such as incubation time, heating duration, cell culture medium, incubation temperature, and the number of washes affect the nanoparticle–protein corona complex. silver nanoparticles with and without bound proteins were characterized by electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and ultraviolet-visible-near-IR spectroscopy. The tetrazolium-based MTT assay was used to determine viability of A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells treated with silver nanoparticles. Characterization of the nanoparticles before and after protein binding provided insights into their changing morphology on corona formation. Our results confirmed that the physiological environment directly affects protein corona formation on nanoparticle surfaces. In particular, incubation condition-dependent differences in the amount of bound proteins were observed. This work highlights the importance of environmental drivers of protein adsorption, which should be considered when predicting and/or controlling protein targets of silver nanoparticles.